Dale was trying not to cry, especially now that Evan was hugging him back. There still seemed to be a desperate tension in his brother, and the first thing Dale always tried to do with anyone, living or dead, was soothe them. It had been such a very long time since he had been able to be there for Evan, and so much had happened. So many things that Dale didn't even know about, things he wasn't sure he could ever ask about or understand stretched between them.
None of it mattered, of course. Evan could have gone to the moon or been assimilated by the Borg, and Dale still would have welcomed him back and held him and told him it would be okay. "You're all right, Ev. I've got you," he said again, wanting to emphasize that. He had his brother now. He could take care of him. He wouldn't go silent and distant again. "Peach has you, too."
Some of the spirits had slipped in, curious about where Dale was and what he was doing. A number of them recognized Evan's voice, too, and they hovered a little ways away, murmuring silently but not interrupting. Dale wouldn't mention them. Not now. It had always made him sad that the gift had skipped Evan. He would have given it to him in a heartbeat if he could.
"Where are you staying? You can stay here. Your room is just the same." His voice cracked just a little there because he was worried the room might have filled up with all the words he had whispered to it over the years. Maybe it was so full that it would drown the house if the door was opened.